I think it’s too bad that this game hasn’t received more attention—it’s got a lot going for it…

Pros
• Superb production value—artwork and component are amazing.
• Great phases. It feels like you have five games in one because of the varying mechanics employed for each phase. In one phase it is a bidding game, the next it is a trading game, the next it is a set-collection game, etc. This may sound like it is a Frankenstein design, but the sum is truly greater because of the parts. Despite being a fairly long game to play, the mini-games in the form of phases makes it feel like it takes less time. There is also a decent amount of interactivity between players, so it doesn’t feel like you’re just waiting for the next person’s turn to end.

Cons
• A bit long. It plays like a gateway game, but takes as long as gamer games.
• Box is glossy rather than matte. This may seem really nit-picking (ok, it is), but the box can be hard to open because of the glossy cover.
• Need to have one player drive the other players through the phases. Maybe this doesn’t seem that big of a deal, but it can be hard to keep the game moving without someone saying, “OK, everyone. The next phase is…”.

All in all, I really recommend this game. It seems there have been varying times when Days of Wonder has put this game on sale or bundled it with others. If you can get it at discount, consider yourself lucky. If not, I think it is worth the full price.

I love Hive. It’s a quick, it’s strategic, it’s highly portable. (How many games can you play on the beach?) Prior to purchasing the Ladybug expansion, I’d purchased the Mosquito expansion. Certainly, the Mosquito is extremely versatile—the ability to copy the ability of any insect it is adjacent to, so it is probably not fair to put the Ladybug in the same category of value as the mosquito. The insect that it is most like is the beetle—except faster. Altogether, it moves three spaces—two on top, then one down, ending its turn beside other insects. Really, it can be quite useful. Now is it worth the money for the expansion? I like the game, and the quality of the tiles is as good as the others, so I was good with completing the Hive set with this new bug.

My only question is: What is the next insect? Preying Mantis with the ability to eat other insects? I’d buy it. 🙂

I’m in constant search for games that will appeal to both my gaming groups and my family. Generally speaking, it is easy to find games that appeal to the gamers, it’s finding games that can “make it to the table” for my family that is hard. In my family, it is my son that plays games the most, but he has a distinct preference for games that exhibit the following qualities:

Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, and its accompanying adventure packs, meets both of these requirements. “Conflict at the Carrock” is the second expansion pack, and it definitely ratchets the difficulty up several notches from the first expansion pack. In the previous pack, “The Hunt for Gollum,” the adventure was simply this—stay on Gollum’s trail. You don’t capture him—that’s left for a future adventure pack—so it feels a bit “all exposition and no resolve.” With Carrock, you’ll find a tight adventure romp, with the trolls providing a solid butt-whooping to those who dare to tangle with them. My son and I are 0-2 so far against them, but we’re loving it.

For me, more often than not, the time to actually play with gamers comes few and far between (alas), and finding the right game to get the family to play is hard, too. The games you play with the gamers tend to be more complex and strategic, and the games with family tend to be lighter, more gateway-type games. I’ve found this game bridges both camps, though tends to be more of a filler for the gamers.

Beyond being a great game to transcend playing groups, I’d give this game high marks for the following:

My only knock against the game is the components. The cards themselves—the heart of the game—are a bit cheap. I didn’t buy card protectors for Dominion, but it’s pretty much required for Summoner Wars. I’d recommend the “Premium Chimera” cards from Mayday Games (no, I’m not affiliated with them—just a happy customer of these particular protectors). Also, you’ll definitely want to get the optional board for the game—the folded paper playing board is worthless.

I’m a completist when it comes to Dominion–I have all the expansions, including the overpriced single cards from BGG. This is a great one. Alchemy was so-so, but this one, Prosperity, and Intrique are all must haves.

i had Memoir 44 before buying this. Several years and expansions later, and I’m thinking I’d just stick with Memoir 44. Battlelore adds some complexity through the lore cards and other expansion rules that slows the battles too much for my taste. Setup alone can be rather time consuming. If you’re wanting to scratch the fantasy battle itch, I’d go with Heroscape or others.

Lord of the Rings: The Card Game has quickly become one of my favorites. It’s a challenging co-op with a stronger sense of narrative and character than other co-ops that I’ve played, and I enjoy that. The difficulty level tends to vary with the adventure, and to that end, this Gollum adventure seems to be fairly middle-of-the-road. I don’t mind that it is easier (we’re 50:50 with wins-loses). What it may lack in difficulty it makes up for in story–after playing this I want to buy the next adventure packs to see how this evolves and resolves.

Yes… and well deserved. I was skeptical, but this game has proven to be the best in the breed of “guess-what-the-judge-picked” games (Apples to Apples, etc.). The picture-cards are terrific and definitely spur creative thinking.

This game plays well with both gamers and non-gamers, so I’m glad I have the game. I just like to see games get played, and this is one that will definitely make it to the table.

More great pictures for Dixit. I suppose if you really wanted to, you could probably buy just this pack and make your own pieces to do the scoring and voting, but then you’ll miss out on the other cards in the base set. Regardless, this is a terrific addition to an already great game.

It felt like a somewhat more elaborate version of war. With only two people, this game is definitely broken. I’d like to try it with more, but I have the feeling that you need four or more to make it work. I’m not really sure that even if it were “working” it would be something I’d care to play. Hate to be a downer on it, but just not feeling it with this one…

There were others in this genre before, but you can see the influence this game has had by the number of similar games that have followed. A must for any collection. I’ve been surprised by how many non-gamers have liked this, too.

This game seems most similar to Civ Revolutions, if you’ve played the video game. There are several ways to win, the characters add some nice replayability, and the components are solid. My only gripe is the war mechanism is not quite satisfying. Looking forward to future expansions.

It’s rank on BGG says it all—a great gamer’s game with tons of replayability thanks to ample cards. I’d suggest a card draft during setup to get your occupations and minor improvements—makes it possible to really hone your strategy with the cards.

This fits a space similar to Dominion—fast games that are easy-to-learn and apt to sessions of repeated plays. I usually don’t sleeve card games, but with as much passing and shuffling you’ll do with this, you’ll definitely want to invest in sleeves. Mayday Games has some good ones.

Dominion—the game that started the latest deck-building craze. I have all the expansions, and love the following about this game:

Pros
• Easy to learn
• Fast play
• Always doing something—whether it is shuffling your deck, planning your next hand, playing your hand, or watching what others are buying, there is never a “down” moment.
• Great artwork
• Loads of expansions—great replayability.

Cons
• If you’re playing with newbies, it can be a bit slow as they mull over all the cards to buy.
• Difficult to find a suitable case to hold all the cards.

At this point, I’m pretty much hooked on the game… and committed to buying all the expansions. If you just want one base set and expansion, I’d go with Dominion: Intrigue and Dominion: Prosperity.

Science wins most of the time. Period. Sure, some of the Civilian cards will help round out your points, but Science tends to be a pretty strong approach, especially with the right leader card.

Players (including yourself) need to watch out for the budding scientist from walking away with most of the science cards, especially when they are trying to complete a(nother) set for seven points.

People have accused this game of being “multiplayer solitaire,” and if they really believe that, then they probably won’t win much—unless they are collecting science cards and everyone else they are playing is playing “multiplayer solitaire.”

I think the title says it all, but if you can swing attaching the Dwarven Axe and Citadel Plate to Gimli, have him get a few token wounds (he gets more attack strength with each wound), then you’ll have a great troll-killing super hero. I’d try to stall on the first stage as long as you can to get Gimli those attachments.

The first stage of this adventure is pretty easy to pass, but moving on to the second stage prematurely—specifically before you’ve built up your heroes and allies in your party—will likely spell death when the trolls come snacking in the second stage. You’ll want to have some allies (I call them sacrificial lambs) to take the brunt of the attack so your heroes make it out of the battle unscathed, and, hopefully, scoring some decent damage on the trolls.

In short: Don’t get in a hurry. Build up your hunting party. Bring on the trolls.

If you play each faction with the same strategy, you’ll likely lose a lot. Really know what your factions strengths are, and play to those. If the faction you’re using is best played sitting back, and letting your opponent strike first, then do it. For example, the Vanguards faction has the reputation amongst my gaming group as being nearly impossible to win with. I don’t think that is the case—you just need to use their healing ability as a key strength. They are strongest grouped closely together in a wedge rather than charging out in front in a blaze of glory… only to die. Prior to playing a match with a new faction, check out each champion and common cards.

I would not play this game without first getting some good card sleeves. With the size of the cards, it may be a bit difficult to find them, but I found some from Mayday Games that worked really well. I didn’t sleeve my Dominion cards, but I’m really glad that I did for this game. Anyway, that’s the tip! Take it for what it’s worth.

At first glance, Bilbo and Frodo seem to be weak, and with some adventures they may be, but with this adventure the extra cards and strong life, respectively, provide much help during the adventure. Give the hobbits a chance…

I’ve yet to win against this latest adventure pack, so take this tip with a grain of salt, but… it seems that having a deck constructed of two heros from the same color and one from another works well. For example, two tactics heros and one lore hero, and two leadership and one spirit, seems to be a good mix.